Fresh off a 3-3 road trip that saw them lose several key players to injury, the Red Sox send out a veteran-filled lineup in the opener of a two-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
Daniel Nava, who is batting second and playing left field, is the only starter under the age of 30. The average age of the lineup is 33.
The veteran lot has had its fair share of battles with Rays' starter James Shields. Up and down the lineup it's been feast or famine.
Designated hitter David Ortiz is batting .393 (11-for-28) with two home runs against Shields, while the next hitter in the lineup, Kevin Youkilis, is just 3-for-28 (.107) with nine strikeouts.
Batting behind Youkilis is J.D. Drew, who is a .355 (11-for-31) hitter vs. Shields. Hitting sixth behind Drew is Adrian Beltre, a .143 (3-for-21) hitter against the Rays' righty.
On the Tampa Bay side of things, manager Joe Maddon has chosen to sit center fielder B.J. Upton, who nearly came to blows with teammate Evan Longoria after failing to run hard after a ball hit to the wall during Sunday's loss to Arizona.
Here are the complete lineups for both teams:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro, SS
Daniel Nava, LF
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Jason Varitek, C
Bill Hall, 2B
Mike Cameron, CF
Rays
John Jaso, C
Carl Crawford, LF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Ben Zobrist, CF
Matt Joyce, DH
Sean Rodriguez, RF
Reid Brignac, 2B
Jason Bartlett, SS
